CNN
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US President Donald Trump on Monday claimed credit for brokering a deal between Israel and Hamas, but said he was “not confident” the Gaza ceasefire would last.
“I don’t have confidence. This is not our war, it’s their war,” he said in the Oval Office, when asked by reporters whether the ceasefire would hold and continue through the planned three phases. spoke. “I saw pictures of Gaza. Gaza is like a site of massive destruction. That place really needs to be rebuilt in a different way.”
The American president’s pessimism is not unique. There is significant pressure to resume the war in Gaza from radical right-wing Israeli politicians who believe that a ceasefire is a surrender to Hamas.
Itamar Ben Gvir of Israel’s Jewish Power Party resigned as national security minister this week, further narrowing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s slim parliamentary majority. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened similar measures if Prime Minister Netanyahu did not break the ceasefire after the first 42-day phase was completed.
“I asked for and received a commitment from Prime Minister Netanyahu that Israel would return to the battlefield to eliminate Hamas and eradicate this threat once and for all,” Smotrich said in a statement Monday.
“Both President Trump and President Biden fully supported Israel’s right to return to combat should it conclude that Phase B negotiations are futile,” Netanyahu said Sunday night. I really appreciate it. ”
Israeli media have been awash this week with speculation that promises of a possible restart to the war could doom the second phase of the deal’s negotiations, scheduled to begin on February 4. Once the second phase takes effect, it will be a complete withdrawal. Israeli troops from Gaza.
Mr. Trump’s pessimistic view of the ceasefire reflects his promise hours earlier in his inaugural address that “our success will be measured not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars we end.” It was a contrast.
Among the numerous executive orders he signed when he took office was a decision to rescind the Biden administration’s sanctions against Israeli settlers held responsible for deadly violence in the occupied West Bank. Ta.
Mr. Smotrich was quick to thank President Trump for his appointment, saying, “We will continue our fruitful cooperation to strengthen our national security, expand settlements throughout Israel, and strengthen Israel’s position in the world.” He said he was looking forward to doing so.
The finance minister has been among those who have advocated vehemently for Israel to re-establish Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, which were abandoned on Israeli orders in 2005. Mr. Smotrich was briefly arrested in connection with the protests, but was never charged. withdrawal at that time.
It is unclear how President Trump will evaluate the effort. But on Monday, when asked who should govern Gaza, Trump said, “Certainly you can’t govern the people who were there,” an apparent reference to Hamas. “By the way, most of them are dead, right? Most of them are dead. But they couldn’t run it well. It was run viciously and viciously. So there can’t be anything like that. .”
In response to a question, the US president said he “might” be able to play a role in rebuilding the enclave, praising its “great seafront location” and “perfect climate.”
The comments come after Kushner’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, called Gaza’s waterfront property “very valuable” in February 2024 and said Israel should expel Palestinians from Gaza and “cleanse it.” This reflects the statement that suggested that.
